The first domino has fallen in the ongoing case against a slew of people accused of using insider information to place bets on the date of the 2024 General Election.
Craig Williams, a former Conservative MP and aide to the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pleaded guilty in Southwark Crown Court to cheating at gambling by placing a series of bets related to when Sunak would call an election, which took place in July 2024.
According to the prosecution, Williams wagered £250, £100 and £22.50 on the date of the election using ‘highly sensitive and confidential information’.
At the time, many expected the Prime Minister to wait until the Autumn of 2024 to hold the election.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC told the court: “[Williams] was given a privileged position; he was party to a number of meetings in both Downing Street and Conservative headquarters when the date of the general election was discussed.
“He has now accepted by his plea that he used highly sensitive and confidential information to place bets and to profit.”
Williams represented Cardiff North between 2015 and 2017 before serving as MP for Montgomeryshire from 2019 until his defeat in 2024.
In the days after the allegation came to light, Williams told the BBC that he had made a ‘huge error of judgement’, however, he refused to say whether insider information was used as a Gambling Commission investigation was underway.
Following the GC investigation, a total of 15 people were charged with offences under the Gambling Act in June 2025.
Alongside Williams, Amy Hind, who had worked for the Conservative Party prior to the offences taking place, also admitted to using confidential information to place bets on the election.
It was found that Hind wagered £10, £5 and £20 on the date of the election. She also attempted to place bets of £767 and £700 before eventually being successful in betting £100 at odds of 11-1.
Charges accusing Hind’s husband, Anthony Hind, of passing information to his wife were dropped during the initial hearing.
However, 12 co-defendants pleaded not guilty to similar offences and trials will take place in September 2027 and January 2028.
Among those awaiting trial are the former Conservative Candidate Laura Saunders and her husband Tony Lee, former Senedd (Welsh Parliament) member Russell George and the currently suspended Welsh Conservative Director Thomas James.
The cases added an extra layer of pressure to the already embattled Conservative Party during the run-up to the election, which the party ultimately lost to Labour.
At the time, former Conservative MP Michael Gove described the allegation as ‘beyond embarrassing’, and Labour Leader Keir Starmer weaponised the controversy against his opponent, lambasting Sunak for not immediately suspending the candidates caught up in the scandal.
